SALARY INCOME

STRUCTURE
1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Introduction Objectives Heads of Income Meaning of salary Incomes forming part of Salary 1.4.1. Basic Salary 1.4.2 Fees, Commission and Bonus 1.4.3 Taxable Value of Cash Allowances Summary

1.5

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Income means a receipt in the form of money or moneys worth which is derived from definite source with some sort of regularity or expected regularity. These definite sources of income are salaries, house property, business or profession, capital gains and any other source. If an income is not derived from any of these sources, it is not taxable under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred as Act). For example, if a person finds a purse containing Rs.1000 on road, it is not treated as income since it is not received from any definite source. We have also learnt that scope of total income is determined with reference to residential status of a person i.e. total income of each person is based on his residential status. Once we know what incomes of a person are taxable, then we need to know how to compute total taxable income according to the provisions of Income Tax Act. The incomes are classified into various heads. This is devoted to the first and most important head of income Salaries. It is divided into various sections. First we define the concept of salary income i.e. what are the characteristics, which make an income fall under this head. Then, incomes falling under this head are enumerated, followed by the detailed descriptions of income tax provisions regarding three of these incomes. Income under the head salary comprises of remuneration in any form (including perquisites) received by an employee from employer. Thus, there should be contractual employer-employee relationship. The contract may be express, oral or implied.Salary is chargeable on due or receipt basis. Arrears of salary paid or allowed are includible if not charged to income tax for any earlier previous year [section 15 of Income Tax Act] Salary includes wages , dearness allowance , Bonus , gratuity , annuity or pension , advance of salary ,Fees / Commissions perquisites/ profits received from employer in addition to salary , Leave encashment while in service , Employers contribution to provident fund in excess of 12% of salary of employee , profit in lieu of salary [section 17(1) of Income Tax Act]

1.1 OBJECTIVES
To understand: Classification of salary income into various heads. Concept of salary income Incomes forming part of salary The computation of basic salary in grade system Types of commission an employee can get The concept of allowances Various income tax provisions for computing taxable value of allowances Computation of taxable value of allowances

1.2 HEADS OF INCOME

Income of a person is classified into 5 categories. Thus, income belonging to a particular category is taxed under a separate head of income pertaining to that category. Section 14 of the Act, has classified five different heads of income for the purpose of computation of total income. The five heads of income are: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Income under the head salaries Income from house property Profits and gains from business or profession Capital gains Income from other sources

It may be noted here that an income belonging to a specific head must be computed under that head only. If an income cannot be placed under any of the first four heads, it will be taxed under the head Income from other sources. Certain expenses incurred in earning incomes under each head are allowed to be deducted from its gross income according to the provisions applicable to that specific head. Then, the net income under various heads is aggregated together to compute gross total income of the person. After making certain deductions which are allowed from gross total income (relating to certain expenses incurred or payments made or certain incomes earned) we arrive at the figure of total income for taxation purpose.

1.3 MEANING OF SALARY

Salary, in simple words, means remuneration of a person, which he has received from his employer for rendering services to him. But receipts for all kinds of services rendered cannot be taxed as salary. The remuneration received by professionals like doctors, architects, lawyers etc. cannot be covered under salary since it is not received from their employers but from their clients. So, it is taxed under business or profession head. In order to understand what is included in salary, let us discuss few characteristics of salary. Characteristics of Salary 1. The relationship of payer and payee must be of employer and employee for an income to be categorized as salary income. For example: Salary income of a Member of Parliament cannot be specified as salary, since it is received from Government of India which is not his employer. 2. The Act makes no distinction between salary and wages, though generally salary is paid for non-manual work and wages are paid for manual work. 3. Salary received from employer, whether one or more than one is included in this head. 4. Salary is taxable either on due basis or receipt basis which ever matures earlier: i) Due basis when it is earned even if it is not received in the previous year. ii) Receipt basis when it is received even if it is not earned in the previous year. iii) Arrears of salary- which were not due and received earlier are taxable when due or received, which ever is earlier. 5. Compulsory deduction from salary such as employees contribution to provident fund, deduction on account of medical scheme or staff welfare scheme etc. are examples of instances of application of income. In these cases, for computing total income, these deductions have to be added back.

1.4 INCOMES FORMING PART OF SALARY:

Section 17 of the Act gives an inclusive definition of salary. Broadly, it includes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Basic salary Fees, Commission and Bonus Taxable value of cash allowances Taxable value of perquisites Retirement Benefits

Although, all the components of salary income are included in salary, there are certain incomes in each of these categories, which are either fully exempt or exempt upto a certain limit. The aggregate of the above incomes, after the exemption(s) available, if any, is known as Gross Salary. From the Gross 33 Salary, the following three deductions are allowed under Section 16 of the Act to arrive at the figure of Net Salary: 1. 2. 3. Standard deduction - Section 16 (i) Deduction for entertainment allowance Section 16 (ii) Deduction on account of any sum paid towards tax on employment Section 16(iii).

1.4.1 BASIC SALARY All employees are entitled to a basic salary which is fixed as per their respective terms of employment either as a fixed amount or at a graded system of salary. Under this graded system, apart from the basic salary at which the employee will start, annual increments to be given to the employee are pre fixed in the grade. For example, if a person is employed on 1st May, 2004 in the grade of 12000 300 15000, this means that he will start at a basic salary of Rs.12000 from 1st May, 2004. He will get an annual increment of Rs.300 w.e.f. 1st May, 2005 and onwards every year on the same date till his basic salary reaches Rs.15, 000. No further increment is given thereafter till he is promoted and placed in other grade. Note: Advance Salary, if received in previous year for next year is taxable on receipt basis in the same previous year.

Illustration 1.1: X joins service in the grade of Rs.12000 300 13800 400 17800 on 1st June, 1999. Compute his basic salary for the previous year 2005-06. Solution: For the previous year 2005-06, basic salary of X will be calculated as follows: 1st June 1999 31st May 2000 1st June 2000 31st May 2001 1st June 2001 31st May 2002 1st June 2002 31st May 2003 12000 1st June 2003 31st May 2004 1230 1st June 2004 31st May 2005 0 1st June 2005 31st May 2006 1260 0 1290 0 27,000 1, 38,000 1, 65,000 13200 13500 13800

Basic Salary for April and May 2005 (Rs.13500 x 2) Basic Salary for June 2005 March 2006 (Rs.13800 x 10) Basic Salary for previous year 1.4.2 FEES, COMMISSION AND BONUS

Any fees or commission paid or payable to an employee is fully taxable and is included in salary. Commission payable may be at a fixed amount or a fixed percentage of turnovers. In both the cases, it is taxable as salary only when it is paid or payable by the employer to the employee. When commission is based on fixed percentage of turnover achieved by employee, it is included in basic salary for the purpose of grant of retirement benefits and for computing certain exemptions that we will discuss later on. 1.4.3 TAXABLE VALUE OF ALLOWANCES Allowance is a fixed monetary amount paid by the employer to the employee (over and above basic salary) for meeting certain expenses, whether personal or for the performance of his duties. These allowances are generally taxable and are to be included in gross salary unless specific exemption is provided in respect of such allowance. For the purpose of tax treatment, we divide these allowances into 3 categories:

I. Fully taxable cash allowances II. Partially exempt cash allowances III. Fully exempt cash allowances

I. FULLY TAXABLE ALLOWANCES

This category includes all the allowances, which are fully taxable. So, if an allowance is not partially exempt or fully exempt, it gets included in this category. The main allowances under this category are enumerated below: (i) Dearness Allowance and Dearness Pay As is clear by its name, this allowance is paid to compensate the employee against the rise in price level in the economy. Although it is a compensatory allowance against high prices, the whole of it is taxable. When a part of Dearness Allowance is converted into Dearness Pay, it becomes part of basic salary for the grant of retirement benefits and is assumed to be given under the terms of employment. (ii) City Compensatory Allowance This allowance is paid to employees who are posted in big cities. The purpose is to compensate the high cost of living in cities like Delhi, Mumbai etc. However, it is fully taxable. (iii) Tiffin / Lunch Allowance It is fully taxable. It is given for lunch to the employees. (iv) Non practicing Allowance This is normally given to those professionals (like medical doctors, chartered accountants etc.) who are in government service and are banned from doing private practice. It is to compensate them for this ban. It is fully taxable. (v) Warden or Proctor Allowance These allowances are given in educational institutions for working as a Warden of the hostel or as a Proctor in the institution. They are fully taxable.

(vi) Deputation Allowance When an employee is sent from his permanent place of service to some place or institute on deputation for a temporary period, he is given this allowance. It is fully taxable. (vii) Overtime Allowance When an employee works for extra hours over and above his normal hours of duty, he is given overtime allowance as extra wages. It is fully taxable. 36 (viii) Fixed Medical Allowance Medical allowance is fully taxable even if some expenditure has actually been incurred for medical treatment of employee or family. (ix) Servant Allowance It is fully taxable whether or not servants have been employed by the employee. (x) Other allowances There may be several other allowances like family allowance, project allowance, marriage allowance, education allowance, and holiday allowance etc. which are not covered under specifically exempt category, so are fully taxable.

II. PARTIALLY EXEMPT ALLOWANCES

This category includes allowances which are exempt upto certain limit. For certain allowances, exemption is dependent on amount of allowance spent for the purpose for which it was received and for other allowances, there is a fixed limit of exemption. (i) House Rent Allowance (H.R.A.) An allowance granted to a person by his employer to meet expenditure incurred on payment of rent in respect of residential accommodation occupied by him is exempt from tax to the extent of least of the following three amounts: a) House Rent Allowance actually received by the assessee b) Excess of rent paid by the assessee over 10% of salary due to him c) An amount equal to 50% of salary due to assessee (If accommodation is situated in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai) Or an amount equal to 40% of salary (if accommodation is situated in any other place). Salary for this purpose includes Basic Salary, Dearness Allowance (if it forms part of salary for the purpose of retirement benefits), Commission based on fixed percentage of turnover achieved by the employee. The exemption of HRA depends upon the following factors: (1) Basic Salary (2) Place of residence (3) Rent paid (4) HRA received

If an employee is living in his own house and receiving HRA, it will be fully taxable.

Illustration 1.2: Mr. X is employed in A Ltd. getting basic pay of Rs.20, 000 per month and dearness allowance of Rs.7, 000 per month (half of the dearness allowance forms part of salary for the purpose of retirement benefits). The employer has paid bonus @Rs.500 per month, Commission @1% on the sales turnover of Rs.20 lakhs, and house rent allowance of Rs.6, 000 per month. X has paid rent of Rs.7, 000 per month and was posted at Agra. Compute his gross salary for the assessment year 2006-07 Solution: Computation of Gross Salary Basic Salary (Rs.20,000 x 12) Dearness Allowance (Rs.7,000 x 12) Bonus (Rs.500 x 12) Commission (1% of Rs.20,00,000) House Rent Allowance (Rs.6,000 x 12 Amount exempt Rs.53,800) Gross Salary: Amount / Rs. 2,40,000 84,000 6,000 20,000 18,200 3,68,200

Amount of HRA exempt is least of 3 amounts: 1. 2. 3. 40% of Salary (Rs.2,40,000 + Rs.42,000 + Rs.20,000) Actual HRA received (Rs.6, 000 x 12) Rent paid (Rs.7, 000 x 12 10% of salary Rs.30, 200) Amount of HRA exempt is = Rs.3,02,000 = Rs. 72,000 = Rs. 53,800 = Rs. 53,800

(ii) Entertainment Allowance This allowance is first included in gross salary under allowances and then deduction is given to only central and state government employees under Section 16 (ii). (iii) Special Allowances for meeting official expenditure Certain allowances are given to the employees to meet expenses incurred exclusively in performance of official duties and hence are exempt to the extent actually incurred for the purpose for which it is given. These include travelling allowance, daily allowance, conveyance allowance, helper allowance, research allowance and uniform allowance. (iv) Special Allowances to meet personal expenses There are certain allowances given to the employees for specific personal purposes and the amount of exemption is fixed i.e. not dependent on actual expenditure incurred in this regard. These allowances include: a) Children Education Allowance This allowance is exempt to the extent of Rs.100 per month per child for maximum of 2 children (grand children are not considered). b) Children Hostel Allowance Any allowance granted to an employee to meet the hostel expenditure on his child is exempt to the extent of Rs.300 per month per child for maximum of 2 children. c) Transport Allowance This allowance is generally given to government employees to compensate the cost incurred in commuting between place of residence and place of work. An amount uptoRs.800 per month paid is exempt. However, in case of blind and orthopaedically handicapped persons, it is exempt up to Rs. 1600p.m. d) Out of station allowance An allowance granted to an employee working in a transport system to meet his personal expenses in performance of his duty in the course of

running of such transport from one place to another is exempt upto 70% of such allowance or Rs.6000 per month, whichever is less.

III. FULLY EXEMPT ALLOWANCES

(i) Foreign allowance

This allowance is usually paid by the government to its employees being Indian citizen posted out of India for rendering services abroad. It is fully exempt from tax. (ii) Allowance to High Court and Supreme Court Judges of whatever nature are exempt from tax. (iii) Allowances from UNO organisation to its employees are fully exempt from tax. Illustration 1.3: (based on different allowances received by employee) From the following particulars, compute gross salary of Mr X for the assessment year 2006-07. He is employed in textile industry in Mumbai at a monthly salary of Rs.4000. He is entitled to commission of 1% on sales achieved by him, which were Rs.10 lakh for the year. In addition, he received the following allowances from the employer during the previous year: 1. Dearness Allowance Rs.2000 per month which is granted under terms of employment and counted for retirement benefits. 2. Bonus Rs.32000 3. House Rent Allowance Rs.1000 per month (Rent paid for house in Mumbai Rs.1200 per month) 4. Entertainment Allowance Rs.1000 per month 5. Children Education Allowance Rs.500 per month 6. Transport Allowance Rs.1000 per month 7. Medical Allowance Rs.500 per month 8. Servant Allowance Rs.200 per month

9. City Compensatory Allowance Rs.300 per month 10. Research Allowance Rs.500 per month (amount spent on research Rs.3000)

Solution: Computation of Income from Salary of Mr. X for the Assessment Year 2006-07 Amount / Rs. Basic Salary 48,000 Dearness Allowance 24,000 Commission 10,000 Bonus 32,000 House Rent Allowance 5,800 (Rs.1000 x 12 Amount exempt Rs.6200)* Entertainment Allowance 12,000 Children Education Allowance 3,600 (Rs.500 x 12 Amount exempt Rs.100 x 2 x 12) Transport Allowance 2,400 (Rs.1000 x 12 Amount exempt Rs.800 x 12) Medical Allowance (fully taxable) 6,000 Servant Allowance (fully taxable) 2,400 City Compensatory Allowance (fully taxable) 3,600 Research Allowance 3,000 (Rs.500 x 12 Amount exempt Rs.3000) Gross Salary: 152,800 * Amount of HRA exempt is least of 3 amounts a) 50% of Salary (Basic Salary + DA granted under terms of employment + Commission based on percentage of turnover Rs.48,000 + Rs.24,000 + Rs.10,000 = Rs.82,000) = Rs.41,000 b) Actual HRA received : Rs.1000 x 12 = Rs.12,000 c) Rent paid (Rs.1200 x 12) 10% of Salary (Rs.82,000) Rs.14,400 Rs.8,200 = Rs.6,200

1.5 SUMMARY
1. Heads of Income: There are 5 heads of income into which income of persons can be divided namely Income from salary, house property, business or profession, capital gains and other sources. 2. Meaning of Salary: Any remuneration paid by an employer to an employee in consideration of his services is called salaries. It includes monetary value of those benefits and facilities, which are provided by the employer and are taxable. 3. Income forming part of salary: They include basic salary, advance salary, fees, commission, bonus, taxable value of cash allowances, perquisites and retirement benefits. 4. Allowances: These are of three types (a) Taxable Allowances: Dearness allowance, Medical allowance, Servant allowance, Warden Allowance, Family allowance, City Compensatory allowance etc. (b) Allowances exempt upto specified limit: House rent allowances, Entertainment allowance, Certain Special allowances, etc. (c) Fully exempted allowances: Foreign allowance, sumptuary allowance to High Court / Supreme Court Judges, Allowances from U.NO.